On Screen: “Wicker”
Wicker
Adapted from Ursula Wills-Jones’s short story “The Wicker Husband,” this bawdy, bizarre fable chronicles the unlikely romance between a fiercely independent, yet lonely spinster and a huge man woven from the branches of a willow tree.
In a small, misogynistic 17th century village, the slovenly Fisherwoman (Olivia Colman) is a lowly outcast, ostracized and mocked because of her persistent fishy odor.
Although she muses, “Love seems more a burden than a prize” — she commissions the local Basketmaker (Peter Dinklage) to craft her a husband.
(In Fisherwoman’s patriarchal world, townspeople are named after their profession and brides are traditionally collared during the wedding ceremony and considered their husband’s property.)
While the newlyweds navigate the various aspects of living together, including enjoying a carnal connection so vigorous that it breaks the bed, their frustrated neighbors are made uneasy by what they perceive as this weird, unconventional marriage.
Although sweet, soft-spoken Wicker Husband (Alexander Skarsgard) is kind, considerate and ever-helpful to his wife, prioritizing her happiness, his large, muscular, rattan presence threatens the masculinity of the men (The Tailor, The Butcher, The Bottlewasher) and intrigues envious, sexually aroused women like the scheming Tailor’s Wife (Elizabeth Debicki) and others. Even the incompetent, lunatic Doctor (Richard E. Grant) is affected.
Married filmmakers Eleanor Wilson and Alex Huston Fischer have cleverly created a delightfully original, R-rated, adult-oriented, satirical fantasy that’s raunchy yet, ultimately, romantic with social commentary on marriage and relationships. The dialogue is earthy, vulgar and explicit, yet the sentiment is genuine and poignant.
Kudos to Makeup Designer Joe Dunckley and New Zealand’s Weta Workshop — responsible for the creatures and special effects in “Lord of the Rings” and “Avatar,” among others — for devising Alexander Sakarsgard’s textile-based full-body suit on which 50 artists worked for 18 months. His flexible facial mask combines 10 different prosthetic pieces.
On the Granger Gauge of 1 to 10, “Wicker” is an amusing, enjoyable 8, playing in theaters.
Susan Granger is a product of Hollywood. Her natural father, S. Sylvan Simon, was a director and producer at M.G.M. and Columbia Pictures. Her adoptive father, Armand Deutsch, produced movies at M.G.M.
As a child, Susan appeared in movies with Abbott & Costello, Red Skelton, Lucille Ball, Margaret O’Brien, and Lassie. She attended Mills College in California, studying journalism with Pierre Salinger, and graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with highest honors in journalism.